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Friday, May 27, 2011

Casey Anthony Trial continues...

Narcissistic and sociopathic personalities are by definition charming, and easily able to convince others they are sincere and normal. Casey Anthony appears to fall right into that category, and apparently has convinced her defense team that she's just a poor innocent young woman who was sexually abused by her father, a fact that hasn't been proved, and seems merely a ploy to get sympathy by Casey.

On TruTV, several of the correspondents seem to say that Casey seems to have "loved" her daughter Caylee, based purely on behavior she displayed in front of others. Her former friends, mostly male, state that her daughter appeared "well fed," that Casey did not yell at her or hit her, that Casey has a backpack with her with various DVDs and toys, that Casey played with Caylee and appeared to be having fun, and Caylee seemed to enjoy it. When the defense asked if it appeared she was a "good mother," several said "Yes", based on the above facts.

The defense (Attorney Jose Biaz) keeps asking questions like this: "Did you ever see Caylee malnourished?" and "Did you ever see Casey strike or torture or harm Caylee?" Well, first of all, Casey and Caylee lived with Casey's parents for quite some time, and they made sure Caylee was fed, clean, well dressed, and had DVDS, toys, learning tools. Certainly Casey hadn't worked in two years so she wouldn't have had her money to buy these things.

But more relevant here is this: What is the definition of a good mother? Feeding and clothing and not "torturing" your child only suggests a lack of neglect and overt abuse. They certainly do NOT indicate, alone, that a mother loves a child. In my view, a good mother is someone who is mature enough to love her child enough that her well being is more important than you "having fun. A good mother does not leave her 2-year-old unsupervised while she has sex with her boyfriend of one month in the other room. One witness, Maria K., testified that when she came to Tony/s (the boyfriend's) apartment, little Caylee answered the door while Casey was nowhere to be seen. Maria then noted that Casey was in her boyfriend's bedroom at the time.

Casey Anthony seems to have some similarities to Susan Smith, who killed her two children because her boyfriend did not want to be with her because she had kids and he did not want the responsibility. Prior to the incident where Smith's children were drowned, no one said or noticed that Susan Smith was either a bad mother or abusive to her children. But the fact is, she loved herself more than she loved them. As soon as they became an impediment to what she wanted, she got rid of them.

As for Casey Anthony's father George, several of the In Session correspondents, including Beth Karas and Casey Jordan, defended George's behavior on the stand, and felt that defense attorney Jose Biaz was badgering him. Jose Biaz was questioning George about two gas cans that were stolen from him and the police report that George then made. He questioned whether George had he told the police that his daughter may have been the one who took them since she'd taken his gas cans in the past. The point of the questioning was to show that George may have been lying about the gas cans being stolen (a key piece of evidence) and may have in fact reported them stolen in order to lay groundwork for a later defense.

There was much discussion about whether Jose Biaz was badgering George Anthony or whether George Anthony was simply a controlling angry man. The fact is, Jose Biaz was nervous and tripped over his words quite a bit during that cross examination. He would ask a question about July and then say, Oh, I mean June. He asked other questions that were leading, and others that were simply unintelligible. George Anthony had to say he did not understand the question, or challenge the question, a number of times. I myself found Jose Biaz confusing and unclear, and don't think George Anthony was doing anything other than trying to be certain that what he said On the Record, was true.

In addition, Jose Biaz had accused George in opening statements of sexually abusing his daughter beginning when she was 8 as well as knowing about and covering up his granddaughter's disappearance. It certainly is understandale, if these things are untrue, which I believe they are, that George would be angry, and humiliated after hearing these statements (which he was called by the state to deny)

Most of the In Session correspondents (Beth Karas, Casey Jordan, their law enforcement expert) felt that George Anthony was believable on the stand, appeared genuine, and wasn't any angrier than anyone else would be in the same situation. I tend to agree.

The only emotion Casey shows is when her ex-boyfriend testifies, someone she either loved or was extremely attached to, and when Tony says that Caylee was a wonderful little girl, Casey mouths the word, yes, while holding back tears. However those tears were turned on and then off. I think she wanted appear to be touched by hearing about her daughter in the presence of this man she loved or wanted. No such emotion appeared at any other mention of her daughter thus far in the trial.

They have Casey dressed quite conservatively of course. On Thursday, however, she was wearing a white shirt with poofy sleeves, and a ponytail with the top teased up in such way that she looked like one of those Mormon wives living on the Texas compound that were in the news.

The prosecution is painting a pretty ugly picture of Casey, pretty effectively. The defense is going to have a lot of "splaining" to do.

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I am a psychotherapist and MFT in private practice since 1996. I studied English Lit at UCLA, received my B.A. in 1990, my M.A. in Psychology from JFK University in 1996, and my MFT license in 2001. I am strongly intuitive, skilled at dream analysis, relationship issues, bringing to light unconscious self-defeating patterns, giving support in crises, doing short-term work or deep work, depending on a client's needs. I am an expert at working with trichotillomania and dermatillomania, In addition to Face to Face Therapy, I offer Skype Therapy, Teletherapy (phone) and text-based therapy including online chat and email. Individual psychotherapy is reimbursed to you by most PPO insurance plans. I treat: Depression, Anxiety, Grief, Addiction and Codependence, Relationship Issues, Recovery from Abuse, Body Image & Career Issues. I have a specialty in TRICHOTILLOMANIA (compulsive hair pulling) and DERMATILLOMANIA (compulsive skin picking) since 1996 and have worked with hundreds of people with these disorders. I worked as a publicist in the music industry for ten years before embarking upon a career as a therapist.